Display device



y 4, 1965 w. M. SWARTZ 3,181,261

DISPLAY DEVICE Filed 001;. 4; 1962 INVENTOR WILLIAM M. SWARTZ FIG .4 BY

ATTORNEY 3,181,261 DISPLAY DEVICE Wiiiiam M. Swartz, 337 Sumac Road, Highland Park, Hill. Filed @ct. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 22%,294 1 Claim. (Ct. 40-438) This invention relates to a display device. More particularly, this invention relates to a cardboard display device of very large size.

Cardboard display devices are well known in the art. These display devices are usually shaped to represent an animate or inanimate object and may carry printing thereon such as advertising matter, descriptive matter etc. These devices are usually placed in store Windows or in public places to attract the attention of passers-by. In order to serve their purpose of attracting attention these display devices must be made of extremely large size. The function of attracting attention is also enhanced if some sort of motion is imparted to the display device. A display device shaped to represent a man may be made to approach the height of a normal man in order to attract attention. If it is shaped to represent another animate or inanimate object, the display device may approach and at times even exceed the normal size of the object it represents.

Difficulty has heretofore been experienced in the handling and shipping of cardboard display devices of a size considered necessary to attract attention and this difiiculty has been a serious limitation on the size of the display devices that could be producedand shipped to the desired location. Motion has heretofore been imparted to display devices with the aid of electrical motors which require electrical connections. This materially increases the cost of manufacture and space requirements of the display device. The use of motors or other means for imparting motion to the display device of the size here contemplated renders the device cumbersome and this also has prevented cardboard display devices capable of movement from coming into general use.

It is an object of this invention to provide a display device, that can be made of any desired size and be easily handled and shipped from place to place.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cardboard display device made in sections which sections may be easily assembled and disassembled.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an inexpensive cardboard display device made of sections which sections are capable of movement relative to each other when the sections are in assembled condition without the use of motors or other motion imparting elements associated therewith.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a spring-like connecting device for use in connecting sections of corrugated or other material having open ended passages.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the detailed description given below when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a display device made according to my invention which is in the general shape of a woman;

FIG. 2 is a side View of the display device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one form of connecting and supporting spring;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a somewhat different form of connecting and supporting spring; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section view of a cardboard sheet used in constructing the novel display device.

Referring to the drawing, 1 represents the assembled nited States Patent "ice Eddlfihl Fatented May at, 1965 display device in the form of a woman formed of sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and e. Section 2 represents the head and neck, sections 3 and 4 the torso. Section 5 the lower portion of the body and section 6 the arms. These sections are usually not made in the exact shape of the human body but only in a rough approximation thereof and the exact shape of the human body is drawn or painted on the device, or a separate sheet or sheets of paper may be painted or drawn with the exact shape of the body and pasted on the display device. The various sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are assembled and held together by means of springs 7 and 8.

As shown in FIG. 3, the spring 7 comprises a middle portion 9 and two end portions 10 and 11 made of a single piece of spring wire. The portion 9 is made zigzag in shape while the portions 10 and 11 are made straight and extend in opposite directions from the portion 9. Portions 1t and 11 are bent upon themselves at 12 and 13 approximately the shape of a U with the bent over portions 14 and 1S diverging at a small angle and terminating short of the middle portion 9.

The spring 8 shown in FIG. 4 is similar in construction to spring 7 except that the end portions it) and 11' extend from the middle portion 9' at substantially right angles to each other. The end 11' is connected to the middle portion 9' by means of straight portions 16 and 17 extending at an angle to each other.

The springs 7 and 8 and especially the middle portions 9 and 9' thereof are made sufficiently resilient as to permit the sections of the display device to vibrate or jiggle due to any vibrating forces, natural or artificial that may exist in the vicinity of the display device where installed. Such vibrating forces are usually present in the areas where these display devices are used. The vibrations may result from the movement of traffic in the street, from the use of motors in the building in connection with the heating system or air-conditioning system, from the circulation of air or from other causes. However no special motor for imparting motion or vibration to the sections is necessary.

The cardboard 15 of which the display device is made comprises, as shown in FIG. 5, a sheet of relatively stiff paper 19 which is corrugated or pleated. Each side of the sheet 18 is covered with a smooth sheet of paper shown at 20 and 21, pasted on the crests of the corrugations thereby forming longitudinal passages 22 in the cardboard which are open at the ends and closed at the sides. This type of cardboard is well known.

In constructing the display device, a sheet of cardboard, such as described above is first cut or otherwise shaped to the approximate shape of the animate or inaminate object which it is desired to represent. The exact shape of the object is then drawn or painted on one face of the cardboard, or if desired, a separate sheet of single ply paper may have the object drawn or painted thereon and this sheet of paper adhesively secured to one face of the cardboard. The cardboard carrying the exact shape and appearance of the desired object is then cut in sections, such for example, as sections 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of FIG. 1. These sections are then packed together with a sufiicient number of springs 7 and 8 for their assembly and shipped to the point of use. The packing and shipping of the relatively small sections presents no problem.

At the point of use, the sections may be easily assembled by inserting the bight 12 or 13 of the ends 10 and 11 of the spring 7 into the ends of the passages 22 of the cardboard of the sections. The bights 12 and 13 are made of a size approximating one dimension of the crosssection of the passages so that it may be easily inserted into the end of the passage and pushed inwardly. The diverging leg 14 or 15 will be pressed toward the other leg of the U during the insertion. The zig-zag or middle portion 9, which as seen in the drawing, has a dimension larger than that of the cross-section of passages 22 and will limit the extent to which the spring is moved into passage 22. The resiliency of the end or 11 of the spring will cause a pressure to be exerted against the walls of passage 22 and will securely maintain the spring within the passage 22 until it is forcibly withdrawn by hand when it is desired to disassemble the device.

After the display device is assembled and placed in a window or other place, any slight vibratory forces, such as those already mentioned above, that may be present in the area in which the display device is located, will act on the sections and due to the resiliency of the springs, will cause the sections to vibrate or jiggle. This movement of the sections will materially enhance the capability of the display device to attract the attention of passers-by.

After the display device has served its purpose at one point, it may be easily disassembled by removing the springs from passages 22, the sections and springs repacked and shipped or carried to another point of use and there again assembled in the manner described above.

As indicated above I prefer to use cardboard of the type shown, as the material for constructing my display device because this material is cheap and light. It is to be understood, however, that my invention is not limited to the use of cardboard. Any material, such as plastic or even metal having open ended passages therein to accommodate spring 7 and/ or 8 can be used as the material for constructing the display device. The springs 7 and 8 also need not be made of metal but may be made of other materials such as rigid plastic material having spring-like characteristics. Such plastic material is well known in the art. Thus springs of more or less rigid cellulose acetate, nylon, etc., are known and, if made into the configuration shown in the drawing may be used for assembling my novel display device.

My novel display device may be supported in any known manner. As shown in FIG. 2, a length of cardboard 23 is hinged at 24 to the rear of one of the sections and may be used to support the device in upright position. The display device may also be placed on a wooden or metal support or it may he leaned against a separate support.

Modifications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A display device that forms a simulated object, said device comprising form-sustaining sheets each of which constitutes a section of the device, each sheet having parallel passageways that open at the edges thereof, some of said sheets being positioned to present its passages at right angles to the passages of the adjacent sheet and at least one spring securing each section to an adjacent section in spaced relationship thereto to form an articulated connection between the sheets, each spring being of a single piece of spring wire and having U-shaped end portions in substantially the same plane and which fit into passageways of two adjacent sections, the end portions of some of said springs being aligned and the end portions of other of said springs being substantially perpendicular, the springs having perpendicular ends joining sections which have passages perpendicular to the adjoining sections, the resiliency of the end portions exerting pressure against the walls of the passageways to maintain the springs therein, each spring also having between its end portions a middle portion having a series of reverse bends that are in substantially the same plane as that of the end portions and which span the space between the two sections, the middle portion being larger in one dimension than the cross sections of the passageways to limit the extent to which said end portions extend into said passageways, the distribution of the sections and the resiliency of the middle portions of the springs being such that vibrations in the vicinity of the device which are induced into the device cause the sections to move independently of one another.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 896,926 8/08 Martel 40-143 1,224,582 5/17 Vandegrift 40-138 1,345,328 6/20 Neederman 40-138 X 1,593,085 7/26 Lang 40-10633 X 1,811,320 6/31 Kerr 40-138 X 1,893,025 1/33 Gregory 40-10641 X 2,128,133 8/38 Fried 40-138 2,454,899 3/48 Twomey 46-126 X 2,544,105 3/51 Quick 40-10641 2,760,303 8/52 Del Mar 40-10634 X 2,996,832 8/61 Rubin 40-143 X FOREIGN PATENTS 216,897 12/09 Germany.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

